Jerusalem: new Franco-Israeli diplomatic incident on a site belonging to France

A new diplomatic incident between France and Israel marred the visit to Jerusalem of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday when Israeli police entered “armed” and “without authorization,” according to him, on a religious site belonging to France.

“This attack on the integrity of an area placed under the responsibility of France is likely to weaken the links that I had come to cultivate with Israel, at a time when we all need to advance the region on the path to peace,” he stressed to the press.

He did not specify why the Israeli police had entered the grounds of the Eléona national domain, next to which is a Carmelite convent (also under French diplomatic protection), located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. , Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.

Denouncing an “unacceptable situation”, the minister finally decided not to enter this pilgrimage site.

Built on the grotto known as “du Pater”, where Christ, according to tradition, taught the Our Father (Pater noster, in Latin) to his disciples, it is one of the four French national domains in and near Jerusalem, with the Tomb of the kings, the basilica of Sainte-Anne and the old crusader commandery of Abu Gosh with their Romanesque churches.

“The Eléona area (…) is an area which has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but whose security France ensures,” said the minister.

The Eleona “is a holy place,” Father Laurent, rector of the Sainte-Anne basilica, explained to AFP.

“Here in Israel, the holy places are particularly protected places. We don’t enter with weapons. Furthermore, it is a French domain,” he added.

The Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned “in the coming days” to discuss this incident, announced the Quai d’Orsay.

“Don’t touch me”

Just after the minister’s departure, a new incident involved Israeli police officers in uniform and two French gendarmes in civilian clothes, noted an AFP journalist.

During a very tense exchange, Israeli police officers grabbed one of them, throwing him to the ground before taking him into a police car. The gendarme, who had identified himself, shouted several times, “Don’t touch me!” », According to the AFP journalist.

The two gendarmes were then released and a police official explained to them that they were not in uniform and that they had not shown their professional card.

“They know that we work at the French consulate general,” replied one of the two consulate agents, pointing to the police officers who had arrested him.

The Israeli police said in a statement that “two initially unidentified individuals” had “refused entry to the site to Israeli agents responsible for the minister’s security.”

On January 22, 2022, the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron was also marked by a stampede in front of the Sainte-Anne basilica. The president said in English to an Israeli police officer, “I don’t like what you did in front of me.”

The most famous incident remains that of 1996, when President Jacques Chirac also lost his temper against Israeli soldiers who were surrounding him too closely, saying “Do you want me to go back to my plane? » (Do you want me to get back on board my plane?), before demanding that the soldiers leave the Sainte-Anne area.